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Uniting Vic.Tas streamlines business process management for better service model

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Amalgamating multiple services into one to provide a single overview of a patient is no easy feat – it requires the consolidation of multiple business process managements and the creation of a unified customer service platform, amongst other things.

One organisation that recently progressed in its unification journey is Uniting Vic.Tas.

With the need to combine 24 Uniting Care agencies across Tasmania and Victoria since its creation in October 2016, the organisation decided to create a “single organisation” with one customer service platform to better its service.

Uniting Vic.Tas’ agencies previously had and ran their own customer service processes each, without any customer relationship management (CRM) solutions in place.

But following changes to aged care, employment services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, it saw the need to engage in a new service model to improve its servicing and have all its data housed under one system.

As such, the company turned to SugarCRM’s interface platform combined with its partner, Loaded Technologies’ CRM solution, to create a “single source of truth” and deliver a “consistent approach to customer service”.

“Given there was no CRM solution in place for any of the 24 agencies, it was difficult to provide consistent customer service to our clients. The merge of the different agencies highlighted how each had a different way of reporting and collecting client information,” Uniting Vic.Tas Quality and Program Performance General Manager Clare Jennings told HITNA.

“As a result, it was crucial for us to streamline those different data sources if we wanted to deliver the best outcomes for our customers.”

The solution streamlines business process management for Uniting Vic.Tas by bringing together data on its customers’ initial engagement, through the sales process and into the most appropriate type of care for that customer.

“The community sector is constantly pressured to adapt its model of care to stay relevant in a competitive fast changing environment. In light of all the changes being made to consumer-directed care, aged care, employment services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, we realised we needed to come up with a new service model,” Jennings said.

“We came to market looking for a tool that would allow us to future-proof the work we do for our customers and their community.”

Jennings said the move has helped the organisation better understand its customers’ journeys.

“Partnering with SugarCRM provided Uniting Vic.Tas the solution support that was necessary to deliver on a better customer journey that we had mapped out prior to going to tender for a CRM solution. As a result of the new CRM solution, we now have the visibility to better learn about our customer journey and improve our processes.”

According to Jennings, analysing data plays a crucial role in the organisation's future as it allows the organisation to better assess customer needs, which can then be used to inform future services that it delivers.

“We plan to continue to streamline the systems and data we collect and use, which will optimise the use of SugarCRM. As a new entity, we have an ambitious technological building plan that will allow us to enhance our operational efficiencies, including developing a single view of our customers so we can focus on servicing them better,” she added.